“Operation Payback” attacks to go on until “we stop being angry”

Digital attacks on anti-piracy groups around the world are being conducted in …

The distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks against anti-piracy websites have gone on for a week now, with the lawyers behind the "US Copyright Group" being the latest target. And the anonymous Internet users behind "Operation Payback" aren't done acting out; in an interview yesterday with the security experts at Panda Labs, one of the organizers said that Anonymous' attacks will continue "until we stop being angry." Judging from the list of things that make him (?) angry, this could take a while.

The law firm of Dunlap, Grubb and Weaver was one of the newest targets of the attacks, organized a week ago to take down antipiracy organization around the world. Already hit: the RIAA (US), BPI (UK), MPAA (US), AFACT (Australia), BREIN (Netherlands), Aiplex (India), and Websheriff (UK). One of the smaller sites actually yielded the biggest bounty; the UK "P2P settlement letter factory" ACS Law gave up several hundred megabytes of private e-mails after being taken offline by the attack.

The organizers of Operation Payback view themselves as anarchists with a strong moral streak. In their initial attack announcement, they claimed that anarchists had already "succeeded en-masse in distributing content to the poor, the underprivileged, the restricted. The most popular pirates are the chinese, whose content filters restrict a vast amount of content from them. The second most popular, the poor, who cannot afford things like college books or entertainment."

These self-styled Robin Hoods are "strongly motivated to do what we can to fight back against things which are morally questionable," which means that they are now launching DDoS attacks in favor of piracy. "Sharing information" is the new morality—"information" in this case apparently including films like Get Him to the Greek, currently the top movie download on The Pirate Bay.

Operation Payback is the rage of those who need more attention. "What do we have to do to be heard?" asks the original call to action. "To be taken seriously? Do we have to take to the streets, throwing molotovs, raiding offices of those we oppose? Realize, you are forcing our hand by ignoring us. You forced us to DDoS when you ignored the people, ATTACKED the people, LIED TO THE PEOPLE! You are forcing us to take more drastic action as you ignore us, THE PEOPLE, now."

And the rage will continue until the perpetrators feel less angry about the "rich and powerful corporations" who run the world. "In a world where our voice is ignored, we feel we have no choice but to revert to direct action."

Or, as an attack organizer put it last week, "We are seeking to change our way of life OUTSIDE the 'basement' we are trapped in. This is just the beginning. This is only the start."

212 Reader Comments

Digital attacks on anti-piracy groups around the group are being conducted in the name or morality, and they aren't going to stop until "the people's" voice is heard, and "the people" don't feel quite so angry anymore.

You really need to edit the summary.

Digital attacks on anti-piracy groups around the group (did you mean world?) are being conducted in the name or (of) morality, and they aren't going to stop until "the people's" voice is heard, and "the people" don't feel quite so angry anymore.

Quote:

ACS Law gave up several hundred megabytes of private e-mails after being taken offline by the attack.

They're also about to be sued into oblivion since they didn't properly safeguard the private information of individuals that settled with them. You won't find me shedding a tear either.

Sounds like bunch of angry cummunist hippies who are upset why they cant download movies for free and pay nothing for music while surfing on their pirated OS all while because they are too lazy and stupid to make money so they can afford their stuff

That's why DRM is needed to protect the rights of media publishers and software developersAnarchism and hipsters are a disease and must be dealt with

I for one support what Anonymous is doing here. They are right about a lot of things. The corporations and various entities in league with them in the Entertainment businesses have taken to attacking their customers, and it's gone on for well over 20 years now.

They've had it coming to them all along, and I am glad that Anonymous is leading the charge. While many Anons can be said to be of questionable moral fortitude in other areas, when it comes to the important things they always are fighting for great justice.

Childish IP pirates who grab any and every excuse for why they are allowed to steal stuff are really getting old now. Seriously, these people are like adults still yelling at their mommy to cut the crust off their sandwiches for them. Do they even understand that boycott means you refuse to buy something you don't agree with? Not that you refuse to buy and then get to steal what you don't agree with. If everybody who ever claimed the moral high ground about pirating something just refused to buy and didn't pirate it, we'd have a lot less of this obnoxious DRM.

Wow, what a fantastic way to delegitimize the efforts of actually helpful groups...

Throwing all that (ignorant) idealism behind the attack with quotes like those, they're just encouraging judges to side with USCG and their ilk.

The "legitimate" groups have served to do nothing to combat the lengthening of copyright and the scare tactics used by the less savory members of the IP industry against individuals in society as a whole.

When you treat people like crap long enough, sooner or later, they're going to start treating you poorly back. This response is to be expected.

Rock on anonymous! Given the extreme disparity of resources available to the sides in this, I say do whatever we can to even the fight up. It's time we started taking a more proactive stance against their relentless campaign of aggression against non-profit infringement and fair use.

I for one support what Anonymous is doing here. They are right about a lot of things. The corporations and various entities in league with them in the Entertainment businesses have taken to attacking their customers, and it's gone on for well over 20 years now.

They've had it coming to them all along, and I am glad that Anonymous is leading the charge. While many Anons can be said to be of questionable moral fortitude in other areas, when it comes to the important things they always are fighting for great justice.

I agree with some of what they are doing. What are people to do when corporations start writing the laws the benefit their bottom lines at the expense of everyone else? What are normal middle working class people to do when they have no actual congressional representation? That is exactly what is happening now.

Communist? Come on. If anything they are acting like socialists and NOT like the fascist that are controlling every aspect of our lives. Of course nothing is free in this world and I really doubt that they are acting like modern day robin hoods.

Wow, what a fantastic way to delegitimize the efforts of actually helpful groups...

In part, I sort of agree with the DDoS attacks, but then there's this side.

The EFF (et al) have been struggling their asses off and for what: passed laws anyway.

What really pisses me off are the "artists" out there who refuse to stand up against these issues. It makes no sense to allow their "representatives" to make such bold moves as to go so far as violate the Constitution.

Thus, until artists get involved, I say let them DDoS until their machines break down.

I'm pretty tired of this crap myself, but my solution (not buying a damn thing and finding other ways to entertain myself) is the very least, most lawful, yet underused option every American has in their arsenal to be heard.

Entertainment: who needs rights when dancing stars, singing idiots, and 50 versions of one show keeps the masses happy.

I for one support what Anonymous is doing here. They are right about a lot of things. The corporations and various entities in league with them in the Entertainment businesses have taken to attacking their customers, and it's gone on for well over 20 years now.

They've had it coming to them all along, and I am glad that Anonymous is leading the charge. While many Anons can be said to be of questionable moral fortitude in other areas, when it comes to the important things they always are fighting for great justice.

It doesn't help the cause at all who simply want fair use for legit reasons.

I can guarantee you that most of 4chan is pissed not because they feel they can't transfer their legally bought DVD's to another format.

They're pissed because the studios dare try and stop blatant pirate sites. Now I don't agree with the massive lawsuit in question on the doe's. But I don't see why people are getting pissed when the studios try taking down sites like TPB. And no matter what method they turn to whether its suing the enablers or suing the downloaders people get pissed off. You can't expect them to just sit there and let it happen it doesn't work that way.

It's this kind of stuff that sets us back and gets us no where. When has violence and rage ever fixed anything. Tell me how well have the G summit riots worked out in the all the years that they have happened? Shit gets broken and the outcome doesn't change.

Instead of doing script kiddie shit like this why don't all the people who want our fair use rights pool money together and form a lobby. You know the same shit that the entertainment companies have been doing?

I think there's enough people out there with enough money to see some change.

I for one support what Anonymous is doing here. They are right about a lot of things. The corporations and various entities in league with them in the Entertainment businesses have taken to attacking their customers, and it's gone on for well over 20 years now.

They've had it coming to them all along, and I am glad that Anonymous is leading the charge. While many Anons can be said to be of questionable moral fortitude in other areas, when it comes to the important things they always are fighting for great justice.

It doesn't help the cause at all who simply want fair use for legit reasons.

I can guarantee you that most of 4chan is pissed not because they feel they can't transfer their legally bought DVD's to another format.

They're pissed because the studios dare try and stop blatant pirate sites. Now I don't agree with the massive lawsuit in question on the doe's. But I don't see why people are getting pissed when the studios try taking down sites like TPB. And no matter what method they turn to whether its suing the enablers or suing the downloaders people get pissed off. You can't expect them to just sit there and let it happen it doesn't work that way.

It's this kind of stuff that sets us back and gets us no where. When has violence and rage ever fixed anything. Tell me how well have the G summit riots worked out in the all the years that they have happened? Shit gets broken and the outcome doesn't change.

Revolutionary War. We fought a war to establish the United States and all the freedoms we enjoy today.World War II. We fought a war to stop a few tyrants from imposing their will on the world.

I for one support what Anonymous is doing here. They are right about a lot of things. The corporations and various entities in league with them in the Entertainment businesses have taken to attacking their customers, and it's gone on for well over 20 years now.

They've had it coming to them all along, and I am glad that Anonymous is leading the charge. While many Anons can be said to be of questionable moral fortitude in other areas, when it comes to the important things they always are fighting for great justice.

It doesn't help the cause at all who simply want fair use for legit reasons.

I can guarantee you that most of 4chan is pissed not because they feel they can't transfer their legally bought DVD's to another format.

They're pissed because the studios dare try and stop blatant pirate sites. Now I don't agree with the massive lawsuit in question on the doe's. But I don't see why people are getting pissed when the studios try taking down sites like TPB. And no matter what method they turn to whether its suing the enablers or suing the downloaders people get pissed off. You can't expect them to just sit there and let it happen it doesn't work that way.

It's this kind of stuff that sets us back and gets us no where. When has violence and rage ever fixed anything. Tell me how well have the G summit riots worked out in the all the years that they have happened? Shit gets broken and the outcome doesn't change.

if you are not happy with the rules and regulations regarding a product don't buy it thenIts not like big corporations are forcing people to buy their stuff

While copyrighted content takes money to produce and thus, should have money paid to use, copyright holders and their thugs have been cheating and screwing over legal users for too long for many to still care.

I for one support what Anonymous is doing here. They are right about a lot of things. The corporations and various entities in league with them in the Entertainment businesses have taken to attacking their customers, and it's gone on for well over 20 years now.

They've had it coming to them all along, and I am glad that Anonymous is leading the charge. While many Anons can be said to be of questionable moral fortitude in other areas, when it comes to the important things they always are fighting for great justice.

It doesn't help the cause at all who simply want fair use for legit reasons.

I can guarantee you that most of 4chan is pissed not because they feel they can't transfer their legally bought DVD's to another format.

They're pissed because the studios dare try and stop blatant pirate sites. Now I don't agree with the massive lawsuit in question on the doe's. But I don't see why people are getting pissed when the studios try taking down sites like TPB. And no matter what method they turn to whether its suing the enablers or suing the downloaders people get pissed off. You can't expect them to just sit there and let it happen it doesn't work that way.

It's this kind of stuff that sets us back and gets us no where. When has violence and rage ever fixed anything. Tell me how well have the G summit riots worked out in the all the years that they have happened? Shit gets broken and the outcome doesn't change.

if you are not happy with the rules and regulations regarding a product don't buy it thenIts not like big corporations are forcing people to buy their stuff

So they're attacking Pirate Bay too, right? Sites like that are what give free use a bad name.

If the goal is an honest one, like "I'd like to be able to rip my DVD collection to my media server so I can then archive away the discs", then I can understand the protest. (Not *how* it's done, but why.)

But if they're under the assumption that entertainment is some kind of inalienable right, they're not helping anyone.

I for one support what Anonymous is doing here. They are right about a lot of things. The corporations and various entities in league with them in the Entertainment businesses have taken to attacking their customers, and it's gone on for well over 20 years now.

They've had it coming to them all along, and I am glad that Anonymous is leading the charge. While many Anons can be said to be of questionable moral fortitude in other areas, when it comes to the important things they always are fighting for great justice.

It doesn't help the cause at all who simply want fair use for legit reasons.

I can guarantee you that most of 4chan is pissed not because they feel they can't transfer their legally bought DVD's to another format.

They're pissed because the studios dare try and stop blatant pirate sites. Now I don't agree with the massive lawsuit in question on the doe's. But I don't see why people are getting pissed when the studios try taking down sites like TPB. And no matter what method they turn to whether its suing the enablers or suing the downloaders people get pissed off. You can't expect them to just sit there and let it happen it doesn't work that way.

It's this kind of stuff that sets us back and gets us no where. When has violence and rage ever fixed anything. Tell me how well have the G summit riots worked out in the all the years that they have happened? Shit gets broken and the outcome doesn't change.

Revolutionary War. We fought a war to establish the United States and all the freedoms we enjoy today.World War II. We fought a war to stop a few tyrants from imposing their will on the world.

Those are two I can think of off the top of my head.

Are you really comparing the sacrifices the great American soldiers and other brave soldiers in WW2 against fascist regime to bunch of fat basement hipsters and geeks eating pizza and pop doing DDoS attacks?

I for one support what Anonymous is doing here. They are right about a lot of things. The corporations and various entities in league with them in the Entertainment businesses have taken to attacking their customers, and it's gone on for well over 20 years now.

They've had it coming to them all along, and I am glad that Anonymous is leading the charge. While many Anons can be said to be of questionable moral fortitude in other areas, when it comes to the important things they always are fighting for great justice.

It doesn't help the cause at all who simply want fair use for legit reasons.

I can guarantee you that most of 4chan is pissed not because they feel they can't transfer their legally bought DVD's to another format.

They're pissed because the studios dare try and stop blatant pirate sites. Now I don't agree with the massive lawsuit in question on the doe's. But I don't see why people are getting pissed when the studios try taking down sites like TPB. And no matter what method they turn to whether its suing the enablers or suing the downloaders people get pissed off. You can't expect them to just sit there and let it happen it doesn't work that way.

It's this kind of stuff that sets us back and gets us no where. When has violence and rage ever fixed anything. Tell me how well have the G summit riots worked out in the all the years that they have happened? Shit gets broken and the outcome doesn't change.

if you are not happy with the rules and regulations regarding a product don't buy it thenIts not like big corporations are forcing people to buy their stuff

I for one support what Anonymous is doing here. They are right about a lot of things. The corporations and various entities in league with them in the Entertainment businesses have taken to attacking their customers, and it's gone on for well over 20 years now.

They've had it coming to them all along, and I am glad that Anonymous is leading the charge. While many Anons can be said to be of questionable moral fortitude in other areas, when it comes to the important things they always are fighting for great justice.

It doesn't help the cause at all who simply want fair use for legit reasons.

I can guarantee you that most of 4chan is pissed not because they feel they can't transfer their legally bought DVD's to another format.

They're pissed because the studios dare try and stop blatant pirate sites. Now I don't agree with the massive lawsuit in question on the doe's. But I don't see why people are getting pissed when the studios try taking down sites like TPB. And no matter what method they turn to whether its suing the enablers or suing the downloaders people get pissed off. You can't expect them to just sit there and let it happen it doesn't work that way.

It's this kind of stuff that sets us back and gets us no where. When has violence and rage ever fixed anything. Tell me how well have the G summit riots worked out in the all the years that they have happened? Shit gets broken and the outcome doesn't change.

Revolutionary War. We fought a war to establish the United States and all the freedoms we enjoy today.World War II. We fought a war to stop a few tyrants from imposing their will on the world.

Those are two I can think of off the top of my head.

Are you really comparing the sacrifices the great American soldiers and other brave soldiers in WW2 against fascist regime to bunch of fat basement hipsters and geeks eating pizza and pop doing DDoS attacks?

Nope. I'm just responding to Adam's assertion "When has violence and rage ever fixed anything?" Wars are violent, but they fixed some issues that needed fixing.

You know some of these comments look familiar? Maybe some industry insiders read AR and are re-typing the company line. Again.

Maybe the content industry needs to wake up and provide a better system of pay per play downloads? Stop demanding 45% of the gross for new internet services? Stop serving up crap and then blaming the 'pirates' for the fail? Stop doing the media spin of doom and gloom unless drm becomes big brother? Stop buying politicos and using them to tell us us mud is honey? Stop the fud? Start payning the content producers what you owe them?

Oh and stop the BS accounting if you want us to think that you are honestly on the up and up. We can see, and we can count.

Wow, what a fantastic way to delegitimize the efforts of actually helpful groups...

In part, I sort of agree with the DDoS attacks, but then there's this side.

The EFF (et al) have been struggling their asses off and for what: passed laws anyway.

What really pisses me off are the "artists" out there who refuse to stand up against these issues. It makes no sense to allow their "representatives" to make such bold moves as to go so far as violate the Constitution.

Thus, until artists get involved, I say let them DDoS until their machines break down.

I'm pretty tired of this crap myself, but my solution (not buying a damn thing and finding other ways to entertain myself) is the very least, most lawful, yet underused option every American has in their arsenal to be heard.

Entertainment: who needs rights when dancing stars, singing idiots, and 50 versions of one show keeps the masses happy.

I'm looking mostly at the Farcry case with this. It seems like the EFF and others might be on the brink of actually acheiving something. A full victory in the Farcry case would go a long way toward ending the USCG abuse. Now, if you're overseeing the case and suddenly people you (through lack of specific technical knowledge) think are affiliated with the defendants start attacking the plaintiffs, what sort of ruling are you going to make?

As to the whole "the entertainment industry has been abusing consumers for blah blah blah" people, please, get a grip. The entertainment industry doesn't have the ability to "abuse" people. They don't force you to buy their products, they don't threaten your physical well-being, they don't extort you (barring the aforementioned USCG vs people who are probably breaking the law). Sure they're not the most moral or helpful industry, but they don't abuse people. Sure they do their best to capture all consumer surplus, but consumers buy things or don't based upon their own perceived value. Claims of "abuse" from the entertainment industry are roughly equivalent to claiming the restaurant down the street is abusing people because they have the audacity to demand payment for the food they provide customers.

I for one support what Anonymous is doing here. They are right about a lot of things. The corporations and various entities in league with them in the Entertainment businesses have taken to attacking their customers, and it's gone on for well over 20 years now.

They've had it coming to them all along, and I am glad that Anonymous is leading the charge. While many Anons can be said to be of questionable moral fortitude in other areas, when it comes to the important things they always are fighting for great justice.

It doesn't help the cause at all who simply want fair use for legit reasons.

I can guarantee you that most of 4chan is pissed not because they feel they can't transfer their legally bought DVD's to another format.

They're pissed because the studios dare try and stop blatant pirate sites. Now I don't agree with the massive lawsuit in question on the doe's. But I don't see why people are getting pissed when the studios try taking down sites like TPB. And no matter what method they turn to whether its suing the enablers or suing the downloaders people get pissed off. You can't expect them to just sit there and let it happen it doesn't work that way.

It's this kind of stuff that sets us back and gets us no where. When has violence and rage ever fixed anything. Tell me how well have the G summit riots worked out in the all the years that they have happened? Shit gets broken and the outcome doesn't change.

Revolutionary War. We fought a war to establish the United States and all the freedoms we enjoy today.World War II. We fought a war to stop a few tyrants from imposing their will on the world.

Those are two I can think of off the top of my head.

Are you really comparing the sacrifices the great American soldiers and other brave soldiers in WW2 against fascist regime to bunch of fat basement hipsters and geeks eating pizza and pop doing DDoS attacks?

He was answering "When has violence and rage ever fixed anything.". I didn't see any statement comparing sacrifices. But then, you keep riding that high horse.

I'd toss in the French Revolution, too.

I don't necessarily agree with 4chan's tactics, but I also am not surprised things are beginning to go this route. The feeling of disenfranchisement is becoming more widespread as the perception that more and more laws are passed with the corporations' bottom line as the sole beneficiary, and as the gap between the wealthy and the poor continues to widen. If anything, I expect responses to get much worse in the next 10 to 20 years if people don't feel things are changing for the better.

I for one support what Anonymous is doing here. They are right about a lot of things. The corporations and various entities in league with them in the Entertainment businesses have taken to attacking their customers, and it's gone on for well over 20 years now.

They've had it coming to them all along, and I am glad that Anonymous is leading the charge. While many Anons can be said to be of questionable moral fortitude in other areas, when it comes to the important things they always are fighting for great justice.

It doesn't help the cause at all who simply want fair use for legit reasons.

I can guarantee you that most of 4chan is pissed not because they feel they can't transfer their legally bought DVD's to another format.

They're pissed because the studios dare try and stop blatant pirate sites. Now I don't agree with the massive lawsuit in question on the doe's. But I don't see why people are getting pissed when the studios try taking down sites like TPB. And no matter what method they turn to whether its suing the enablers or suing the downloaders people get pissed off. You can't expect them to just sit there and let it happen it doesn't work that way.

It's this kind of stuff that sets us back and gets us no where. When has violence and rage ever fixed anything. Tell me how well have the G summit riots worked out in the all the years that they have happened? Shit gets broken and the outcome doesn't change.

Revolutionary War. We fought a war to establish the United States and all the freedoms we enjoy today.World War II. We fought a war to stop a few tyrants from imposing their will on the world.

Those are two I can think of off the top of my head.

Are you really comparing the sacrifices the great American soldiers and other brave soldiers in WW2 against fascist regime to bunch of fat basement hipsters and geeks eating pizza and pop doing DDoS attacks?

Nope. I'm just responding to Adam's assertion "When has violence and rage ever fixed anything?" Wars are violent, but they fixed some issues that needed fixing.

I'm not against War. War can be useful when the right time comesBut in this case, the hackers are on the wrong side and in no way their wrong goal can be remotely linked and compared to the sacrifices of those in the army

IMO all parties here are <insert expletive> and deserve what they get. The "Operation Payback" people are acting on behalf of thieves, which is just absurd. But on the other hand, organizations like the RIAA and these lawsuit mills are behaving equally reprehensibly and are not worthy of the respect or protection of lawful society.

The anti-piracy laws were written primarily to punish mass purveyors of stolen content - the people selling truckloads of counterfeit CDs and DVDs - not college kids stealing a few songs. To me, if someone steals music, the penalty should be equivalent to what would happen if they stole that much music on CD from a store. The person should not be expected to defend him/herself against a fanatical outfit like the RIAA, which has proven itself willing to pour disproportionate resources into torturning those with no ability to defend themselves. If someone who steals a CD gets a few hours of community service, why should someone who steals 10 songs pay tens of thousands of dollars in sanctions?

Every defendant you hear about in these copyright cases is sympathetic. The best of them are grandparents who have no idea about the illegal downloading habits of their grandchildren. The worst are petty thieves who will say anything to divert attention from the facts. Either way, the copyright police are spending millions of dollars to get draconian sanctions against a tiny minority of perpetrators, in the interest of setting an example for the rest of us. They have created an environment in which they are hated, and no one is on their side. While I certainly don't condone theft, I'm more sympathetic to the victims of these huge, oppressive organizations than I am to the perpetrators of what I believe to be a major injustice.

Sounds like bunch of angry cummunist hippies who are upset why they cant download movies for free and pay nothing for music while surfing on their pirated OS all while because they are too lazy and stupid to make money so they can afford their stuff

That's why DRM is needed to protect the rights of media publishers and software developersAnarchism and hipsters are a disease and must be dealt with

I agree but this method used is flawed. It will backfire. see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonnot_Gang"In the aftermath of the collapse of the Bonnot Gang, French authorities used the threat of anarchist violence as the pretext for a substantial expansion in law enforcement power."

"But if they're under the assumption that entertainment is some kind of inalienable right, they're not helping anyone."They are trying to overturn copyright law because it has gotten out of control, the point is nobody is listening to them when they say this. So they decided to make some waves, now they have your attention.

Did you know torrent sites are not inherently illegal? or morally wrong?